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Tax Office and Utility Billing

The city does offer e-statement billing through email for utility bills. You can request email billing upon starting new service or anytime by emailing us or request to be setup online at the city's website.

To start new utility service you will need to fill out an application and have a valid form of identification such as a driver's license, a state ID, a passport, a TWIC card, or a Federal ID if a business. There is a $100 deposit for residential service and a commercial deposit based on the type of business being set up, the deposit varies from $100 to $1,000 or more.

The deposit can be waived for residential service only as long as the customer can provide evidence from their previous water utility that they had water service in the past 12 months without any late fees. Bring the application and ID with the deposit to the Water Department in city hall 710 E San Augustine St during working hours 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you need further assistance, please call the Water Department at 281-478-7221.

Below are instructions on how to check your meter to find out how much water is going through the meter. Knowing the volume of water will help you determine the amount of water you are using or the possible size of a leak.

1. This test should be conducted for a 60 minute period, during which time no water is being used at your location.

2. Find your water meter, in some cases the meter is located in the backyard, but typically it is located in a covered box in the front of the house close to the sidewalk or street.

3. Write down the numbers indicated on the meter dial at the start of this test. Also notate the position of the sweep hand on the front of the meter.

4. Return to check the meter reading after 30 minutes have passed and again after 60 minutes.

5. If the numbers have not changed, it is probable that you do not have a leak in your water lines or perhaps the leak is intermediate.

6. If the numbers have changed without your using any water, you may have a leak. The meter readings work similar to the odometer on a car. To determine the amount of water going through the meter you can subtract the original numbers from the current reading to determine how many gallons have gone through the meter. The usual residential meter will show thousand gallons increments on the dial with the numbers that have a white background and hundreds to tens of gallons of water shown on the dial with a black background. The sweep hand on the meter is a ten gallon sweep, so every time the hand moves from one digit to the next one gallon of water has gone through the meter. The meter shown above indicates that 369,206.7 gallons of water have gone through the meter.

7. The most common culprit for water leaks are toilets. Hundreds to thousands of gallons of water can go down the drain from a running toilet over a month’s time. To check your toilet simply put a colored liquid (or leak detection tablets) in the top tank. Wait 30 minutes or so. If the color from the top tank appears in the bowl without your flushing the toilet you have water going down the drain.

8. If you need assistance in locating your meter or understanding how to read your water meter, you may call the Water Department at City Hall at 281-478-7221 or send an e-mail to Customer Service at customerservice@deerparktx.org.

The City does make leak adjustments on the excess sewer amount charged in some cases. When requesting a leak adjustment you will need to provide a receipt showing that the repairs have been done and were done in a timely manner.

You may also request a pool fill sewer adjustment when filling your pool for the first time or filling your pool after repairing a pool leak. For a pool fill adjustment we require a receipt from the purchase of the pool or repair and a letter or evidence from the pool company stating the capacity of the pool in gallons.

The city does offer ACH bank draft so that a customer can automatically have their utility bill paid from their checking account. The accounts which are setup for automatic draft will still receive a statement with wording on the statement to indicate that the account is set to be paid by draft.

The bank draft accounts are drafted on the 20th of each month. To set up your account for automatic draft simply fill out the draft request form and include a voided check or banking information sufficient to set up the draft.

The city accepts VISA, Master Card, and American Express. The City does not accept Discover Card for utility payments. You can pay at the Collections Department in City Hall or at the City Hall drive-through during working hours, or online at the City's website. The City does not accept payments over the phone.

The city offers a $50,000 exemption off the value for granted over 65 and disability exemptions. For example a house valued at $120,000 with a homestead exemption and over 65 or disability exemption would be taxed as follows.

$120,000 x $.20 = $24,000

$120,000 - $24,000 = $96,000

$96,000 - $50,000 = $46,000

$46,000 x $.7200 / $100 = $331.20

The city also has a tax ceiling in effect which places a cap on what a resident who has an over 65 or disability exemption will pay for property taxes.

The Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) is responsible for determining the value and exemptions granted of all properties on the City's tax roll. For specific questions about your property appraisal or exemptions, please contact HCAD at 713-957-7800 or on HCAD's website.